Perez defiant amid Ronaldo United talk

ESPN staff

June 28, 2013

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez has again stressed that Cristiano Ronaldo has no intention of ever leaving for another club amid reports in Spain suggest the player is seriously considering finishing his career at Manchester United.

It was reported this week that should Ronaldo see out the final two years of his contract at Madrid, United would offer him a €50 million signing on bonus plus the expected huge salary to return to Old Trafford in summer 2015. The player and his agent Jorge Mendes were set to meet with United representatives soon to discuss this possibility, Spanish paper El Pais claimed.

The Blancos chief is rumoured to have a rocky personal relationship with Ronaldo since the player reportedly asked for a move last August and subsequently expressed his 'unhappiness' at the club. But he told Spanish national radio that there were no issues at all, and the player remained keen on cementing his status as one of Madrid's best ever players.

"He has two years of contract left," Perez said. "He is happier every day here. He has no wish to leave Real Madrid and wants to end his career here. He wants to go into history as someone very important at Real Madrid."

Ronaldo currently earns around €10.5 million a year at Madrid, while he and the club share his lucrative image rights. Talks on extending this appear deadlocked, with El Pais claiming Perez has made an offer of €14 million a year up until June 2018, but the player and his agent feel an annual figure of at least €20 million [net] would be more appropriate.

The story also said that Ronaldo had some qualms about playing under David Moyes at United, and that he did enjoy his life in Spain and now improved relationship with Madrid's fans.

Ronaldo's future also came up during Carlo Ancelotti's presentation as Madrid's new coach on Wednesday at the Bernabeu, when reporters asked the Italian whether he was looking forward to working with his new superstar.

"It will be an honour for me to coach Ronaldo," Ancelotti said. "As it was coaching players like [Zinedine] Zidane, Ronaldo and Ronaldinho in the past."

Ronaldo has mostly kept his own counsel on his future plans, but did tweet recently that "All the news about my renewal with Real Madrid are [sic] false," a statement which was taken as a rebuttal of Perez' repeated claims that he would soon sign a new contract at Madrid.

Having spent some of his holiday in New York with partner Irina Shayk, Ronaldo is currently in Bali, where he met with Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to visit some of the world's most endangered mangrove swamps.

The Portugal captain, who has previously shown support for this cause, told reporters accompanying his trip that he was happy to draw attention to this very important issue.

"If we save the mangroves of Bali, we save the world," he said. "I am happy to have come to Indonesia. I hope that my visit helps the defence and conservation of the mangrove swamps."

Ronaldo's personal Facebook page also carried a series of photos of himself and Yudhoyono at the event.